Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, CO

In 1948, the Upper Atmosphere Lab was developed as a way to initiate a new era of space exploration at the University of Colorado. Since then, NASA has launched 15 alumni on 34 manned missions, in addition to designing and building instruments for NASA planetary missions. The Colorado lab is at the top of the space tier of University space research groups in the world, with a combination of superior qualities that allow it to be unique to the University academic environment.

When the University was first developed, the first space experiments were lofted by sub-orbital rockets. The problem was they required a stabilized platform for other experiments and cameras. It was at this moment in history that the University of Colorado formed the “Upper Atmosphere Lab” (UAL) to solve this problem, with help from the Naval Research Center and the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory. The answer—biaxial pointing platform—has brought forth major scientific discoveries that have been made in space. By 1965, a new building and a new name developed—Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

Over the past years since space has been brought to the forefront in technology and discoveries, LASP has participated in missions to each of the solar system’s planets.

*Cassini UVIS was developed for Saturn
*Messenger MASCS was built for Mercury
*SDC was built for Pluto

Science achievements for LASP were notable in the fields of student spacecraft programs, solar irradiance which provided long term data sets for evaluating climate change, campus astrobiology as part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, creation of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, discovery of the magnitude of the effects of solar energetic particles on the chemistry of the upper atmosphere was discovered, and the physical process for producing structures in Saturn’s rings were determined theoretically.

The University of Colorado at Boulder ranks in the top five United State universities, not including military academies, as far as astronauts go. NASA funded the CU-Boulder with more than $160 million for the last three years. With a beginning space presence that began with Scott Carpenter, the university gained notoriety with the only human to explore both outer and inner space when Carpenter was in the Navy’s Man-in-the-Sea Program. The program involved living and working 30 days on the ocean floor, with Carpenter also being known as one of the original seven astronauts that had been chosen by NASA to fly on the second American manned orbital flight.